Key Money and Deposits

I have for over a month now been neglecting both this blog and my studies - but for good reason. I've been simultaneously enduring all the stresses of both house hunting and job hunting in Japan. Both of these activities are however, great language learning opportunities. Here are two words that you will become painfully familiar with if you ever need to find an apartment in old 日本. It's fairly important not to mix them up.

敷金　shikikin is a deposit. In theory you will get it or some of it back one day if you don't make to much of a mess before you leave. but depending on the landlord, in reality you won't get much back at all. The kanji 敷 (shi・ki or shi・ku) means to spread or lay or pave. It is often seen in words related to buildings or plots of land such as 敷居 (shikii - threshold)　敷地 (shikichi - a plot of ground or building site)　屋敷 (yashiki - mansion or residence).

礼金 reikin is a gratuity and is sometimes referred to as "key money". I don't know why it is known as "key money", as the kanji 礼 in this context simply means "thanks". You won't get any of this back. That money expresses your gratitude to the landlord for letting you live on his property. Expecting it back would be rude now, wouldn't it. We can't have that.

More house hunting vocabulary in my next post!

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